Democrats once said the so-called BRIDGE Act was urgently needed to protect young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

But now that President Trump has offered to essentially include it as part of a compromise to re-open shuttered government agencies, those same Democrats are rejecting it — unwilling to trade border wall funding for the immigrant protections they have long sought.

“We must move on the Bridge Act quickly to protect DREAMers,” Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said back in December 2016.

Durbin, along with South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, unveiled the bill before Trump took office; others who signed on as sponsors included California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The president would eventually try to end the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that shielded the 700,000 immigrants illegally brought to the United States as children from deportation, leaving the program in legal limbo ever since.

On Saturday, though, Trump announced he was prepared to back a three-year extension of protections for DACA recipients, and extend protections for 300,000 recipients of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program — which protects immigrants from designated countries with conditions that prevent nationals from returning safely. The BRIDGE Act, likewise, included a three-year DACA extension.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Tuesday delayed the sentencing of Rick Gates for the second time, citing the former Manafort associate’s continued cooperation with “several ongoing investigations.”

In a joint-status report filed by Mueller, Andrew Weissmann and Greg Andres, along with Gates’ attorney Thomas Green, the parties agreed to provide an update within 60 days – “no later than March, 15, 2019.”

President Trump on Thursday argued a border wall would prevent human trafficking and other violent crimes after arriving in Texas to visit the U.S.-Mexico border, amid stalled negotiations with Democrats over the partial government shutdown.

Trump, accompanied by elected officials and border agents, delivered remarks at a border patrol station in McAllen. The president spoke in front of a table of items border agents have seized, including a rifle, handguns, a plastic bag full of cash and black-taped bricks of heroin and meth.

“If we had a barrier of any kind, a powerful barrier, whether it’s steel or concrete…We would stop it cold,” Trump said of human trafficking. The president then took part in a briefing by border agents.

Source : Fox News

]]>http://970kvwm.com/trump-argues-wall-would-prevent-violent-crime/feed/0Trump hopes to build on political momentum from Kavanaugh confirmation in 2019http://970kvwm.com/trump-hopes-to-build-on-political-momentum-from-kavanaugh-confirmation-in-2019/
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Of all the tumultuous tussles in Donald Trump’s Washington — a government shutdown, abrupt staff departures, and the Russia probe — none perhaps was more bitter, yet more significant, in the long-run than the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

2019 promises more drama — on and off the bench.

The justices are confronting a number of immigration-related legal challenges that could be added to the docket in coming months — and the president sees the high court’s shaky conservative majority as his best shot at upholding a top political and national security priority. This after the lower federal courts have all but eviscerated his immigration agenda.

“This case will be settled by the United States Supreme Court!” Trump tweeted in October about his plans to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to unauthorized immigrant parents.

Other pending court challenges where the justices could soon decide include religious freedom, healthcare, gerrymandering, abortion and transgender military members. And it will be the court’s newest member who could have unusual sway over the docket.

“Before he joined, this was a court that was evenly split 4-4 on many of the most intractable constitutional issues,” said Thomas Dupree, a former top Justice Department official in the Bush administration. “I think you’re going to see a concerted effort by the lawyers in these cases to try and pick off that fifth vote from Justice Kavanaugh, making arguments that will appeal to him.”

And after two high court confirmations in Trump’s first two years, the White House is quietly hoping for more.

Despite a recent Senate slowdown, Senate confirmations of the president’s judicial picks overall have been brisk in 2018. Judge Jonathan Kobes took the bench two weeks ago in St. Louis, Trump’s 30th federal appeals court nominee, far ahead of the pace of his recent predecessors.

It is through tears of sadness and with a heavy heart that White Mountain Radio is sharing this. Our White Mountain Radio family has lost two beautiful people, Charlie and Patti Martin, in a tragic car accident outside of Payson, Sunday, December 9th. Charlie has been the morning DJ on KSNX 105.5, hosting “Rise and Shine with Charlie” for almost two years now. His lovely wife Patti was a great baker and has surely helped us all gain a few pounds from her sweet goodies that ‘magically’ appeared at the station. There have been countless remotes, parades, and events that they and their family were always a part of, whether we were decorating a float, bowling for the hungry or just trying to scare people on Halloween. The plaques and records on the walls of KSNX’s studio is a testament to an individual who had a passion for music and loved what he did. Charlie brought a plethora of knowledge to our listeners, as well as an enthusiasm in everything he did. It has been dark and quiet in the KSNX studio these days. They will be truly missed at White Mountain Radio. Rest in peace, Charlie and Patti!

Federal employees were offered an early holiday gift this year from President Trump when he signed an executive order that relieved workers from their duties on Christmas Eve.

The decree issued on Tuesday on the White House’s website declared that every executive department and agencies operating within the government “shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Monday.”

However, the order did give authority to individuals who run those departments and agencies to have some employees stay on the clock on Dec. 24.

“The heads of executive departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must report for duty on December 24, 2018, for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need,” the executive order stated.

The director of the Office of Personnel Management was authorized to carry out the mandate, the White House said.

Michael Cohen’s guilty plea and subsequent sentencing for campaign-finance violations and other crimes revived speculation about President Trump’s potential legal exposure — but some former Federal Election Commission members say neither of them necessarily committed a violation with hush-money payments to purported Trump paramours.

The salacious details of those payments, which have steadily come to light in the course of two investigations into Cohen and in turn compelled Trump to acknowledge his involvement, speak to somewhat of a grey area in campaign-finance law.

Top Democrats in recent days have suggested the violations amount to an “impeachable offense” and could even merit future prosecution. According to Cohen, Trump ordered him to make payments to Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels going into the 2016 presidential campaign.

But Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on “Outnumbered Overtime” that the Cohen payments were “not a campaign finance violation.” He has previously tweeted that they were a “simple private transaction.”

“What he did was all unrelated to me except for the two campaign finance charges that are not criminal and shouldn’t have been on there,” Trump said of Cohen and the campaign-finance charges. “They put that on to embarrass me.”

Source : Fox News

]]>Who’s in the running to replace John Kelly?http://970kvwm.com/whos-in-the-running-to-replace-john-kelly/
Mon, 10 Dec 2018 18:26:49 +0000http://970kvwm.com/?p=3182↓ Read the rest of this entry...]]>

Nick Ayers squashed rumors he could be the next White House chief of staff over the weekend, leaving the question: Who will President Trump pick for the high profile job?

“John Kelly will be leaving at the end of the year, we will be announcing who will be taking John’s place, it might be on an interim basis, I’ll be announcing that over the next day or two,” Trump said of Kelly, the former Homeland Security secretary.

Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, was considered to be a shoo-in for the position, but he announced he’s leaving the administration at the end of the year instead.

“I am in the process of interviewing some really great people for the position of White House Chief of Staff,” Trump said in a Dec. 9 tweet. “Fake News has been saying with certainty it was Nick Ayers, a spectacular person who will always be with our [Make America Great Again] agenda. I will be making a decision soon!”

The new White House chief of staff will enter the Trump administration at a pivotal moment, faced with the challenges of securing the president’s re-election and fending off inquiries once Democrats gain control of the House next year.

KC is comfortable with his decision to retire. “I don’t want to do this anymore,” he said. “It’s time to go. I’m done. I have done as much as I can. It’s time for me to get going.”

In retirement, KC plans to renew and expand his commitments to civic organizations like the Masons and the Kiwanis Club. He plans to increase his involvement in his church and make up lost time with his children and his granddaughter. In June, he and his wife, Brenda, are planning a four-month road trip to Alaska in their 5th-wheel travel trailer.

KC’s visibly relaxed now and, as with anyone whose livelihood depended for so many years on not offending voters, he’s now ready to let his hair down and express his sense of humor. For his future career plans, KC said, he’s thinking about becoming a professional troublemaker. “I want them to pay me to do it,” he said.

“I want to become a professional provocateur,” he said.The dictionary defines “provocateur” as a “person who provokes trouble, causes dissension, an agitator….”

Three decades ago, Navajo County Sheriff Glenn Flake presented KC with his badge.

KC has been mentoring Dave Clouse, hoping the Board of Supervisors will appoint him sheriff when KC retires on February 12. Clouse’s grandfather is Glenn Flake. “So I get to give the badge back to the family that gave me that chance,” KC said.

The Black Mesa Ranger District on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests plans to conduct a prescribed burn within the Fulton Timber Sale area to the south of Highway 260, West of Forest Road 512, and North of Forest Road 912E. The burn area is located within Township 11N, Range 14 East, and Sections 32 and 33, and Township 10.5N, Range 14E, Sections 23 and 24.

Half of this project area (663 acres) was completed in October of this year. About 500 acres still remain and the district plans to burn on December 4, 2018. The intent is to burn remaining slash piles created from logging operations. Ignition depends on the weather.

Smoke will be seen from Highways 260, the Young Highway (Forest Road 512), and from the community of Forest Lakes. Smoke may also be visible from the Colcord and Ponderosa Estates area below the Mogollon Rim. There may be light to moderate impacts within the area throughout the remainder of the week and should decrease significantly each evening after the primary ignition occurs.

Once ignition occurs, crews will be on scene from ignition until there is no longer a threat of escape from the project boundaries.